Method and apparatus capable of constructing and operating cyber-conferences in cyberspace

ABSTRACT

A method and an apparatus for constructing and operating a cyber-conference in cyberspace are disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: accessing a cyber-conference operating web site provided on cyberspace; applying for registration to a cyber-conference operation server; approving the registration based on data stored on a database; and creating a cyber-conference in the cyberspace. The apparatus, which is connected to a user client and a conference client through a communication network, comprises a storage unit for storing a program, embodied on a computer-readable medium, capable of constructing and operating the cyber-conference; a database storing data related to the cyber-conference; and a server connected to the storage unit and the database.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a method and an apparatuscapable of managing conferences; and, more particularly, to a method andan apparatus capable of constructing and operating cyber-conferences incyberspace.

[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art

[0004] Typically, students and professionals take academic and technicalactivities by exchanging related information in their scientific andtechnical fields at a center of conferences existing on off-line, i.e.,in real world. Each of the conferences annually holds one or moremeetings to promote academic and technical capacities among members. Allthe members, however, cannot attend the meetings at the same time due tolimitations of time and space. Since a meeting is held in a limitedperiod of time, a great deal of subjects issued on the meeting cannot bediscussed thoroughly. Consequently, it is very difficult to achieve theoriginal goal of the meeting that promotes academic and technicalcapacities of the members.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0005] In order to overcome the aforementioned shortcoming, the presentinvention provides a method and an apparatus capable of constructing andoperating cyber-conferences in cyberspace where a great amount ofinformation is exchanged through a network such as the Internet. Inother words, by using the method and the apparatus capable ofconstructing and operating cyber-conferences in the cyberspace inaccordance with the present invention, it is expected to reduce humanresources, costs, and time necessary for operating the cyber-conferencesand also it is easy to encourage to actively participate in a meeting ofthe cyber-conference not only the members of the conference but also thegeneral public who are interested in the meeting. Also, one can expectthat the individual conferences can examine papers thoughtfully as wellas objectively and experts of corresponding technical fields canexchange opinions with each other, so that the advancement of learningcan be accomplished. It can be shorten the time that puts researchresults to practical use.

[0006] In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, it isprovided a method comprises the steps of: accessing a cyber-conferenceoperating web site provided on cyberspace; applying for registration toa cyber-conference operation server; approving the registration based ondata stored on a database; and creating a cyber-conference in thecyberspace.

[0007] In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, it isprovided an apparatus, which is connected to a user client and a societyclient through a communication network, comprises a storage unit forstoring a program, embodied on a computer-readable medium, capable ofconstructing and operating the cyber-conference; a database storing datarelated to the cyber-conference; and a server connected to the storageunit and the database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The above and other objects and features of the present inventionwill become apparent from the following description of a preferredembodiment given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

[0009]FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system for operating acyber-conference in cyberspace in accordance with the present invention;

[0010]FIG. 2 represents a flow diagram of a method capable ofconstructing and operating the cyber-conference in accordance with thepresent invention;

[0011]FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate flow diagrams for explaining theprocedure of constructing and operating the cyber-conference inaccordance with the present invention;

[0012]FIG. 4 exemplifies the constitution of a cyber-conference builder(CCB) program embodied on a computer-readable medium in accordance withthe present invention;

[0013]FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram for explaining a registrationprocedure shown in FIG. 3A; and

[0014]FIG. 6 presents the constitution of a utility program embodied ona computer-readable medium in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0015] Now, a preferred embodiment in accordance with the presentinvention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

[0016]FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a system for operating acyber-conference in accordance with the present invention. As shown inFIG. 1, the system 100 comprises a plurality of user clients 110, amultiplicity of conference clients 120, and a cyber-conference operatingapparatus 140. These are interconnected through a communication network,such as the Internet 130. It is noted that the Internet 130 should beinterpreted and understood as a communication network in whichconventional wire/wireless communication networks are interconnected.

[0017] The user clients 110 are computing devices serving to communicatewith the apparatus 140 through the Internet 130 by using wire/wirelesscommunication protocols. Lecturers, examiners, and audiences may use theuser clients 110, in order to connect to the cyber-conference operatingapparatus 140. The lecturers contribute and/or submit papers to meetingsof the cyber-conferences; and the examiners appointed by operators ofthe cyber-conferences examine the papers contributed to the meetings.

[0018] It should be noted that the cyber-conference is implemented incyberspace on behalf of a corresponding conference existing on off-line,so that the nature of the cyber-conference is identical to that of thecorresponding conference. It is assumed that an operator of anconference existing on off-line operates a correspondingcyber-conference implemented in the cyberspace. It is noted that thecyberspace is the total interconnectedness of human beings through thecomputing devices and communication networks without regard to physicalgeography. Desktops, laptops, or any computers may implement thecomputing devices, i.e., the clients 110 and 120.

[0019] The conference clients 120 are computing devices serving tocommunicate with the cyber-conference operating apparatus 140 throughthe Internet 130. Operators who operate the cyber-conferences realizedin the cyberspace may use the conference clients 120.

[0020] The apparatus 140 includes a server 142, a program storage unit144, and a database 146, as shown in FIG. 1. The server 142, which isinterconnected with the program storage unit 144 and the database 146,controls the operation of the program storage unit 144. Also, the server142 manages data inputted to/outputted from the database 146 andcommunicates with the clients 110 and 120 through the Internet 130 byusing wire/wireless communication protocols. The program storage unit144 selectively provides a cyber-conference builder (CCB) program and autility program to the clients 110 and 120 under the control of theserver 142. The CCB program and the utility program will be described indetail with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6, respectively. The programstorage unit 144 may also provide the clients 120 with a billingprogram.

[0021] The database 146 is made of a user database 146_1, a paperdatabase 146_2, a conference database 146_3, a cyber-conference database146_4, and an ID (identification) & password database 146_5, but is notlimited thereto.

[0022] The user database 146_1 stores user-related data, wherein theusers may be the lecturers, the examiners, and the audiences. Forexample, the user-related data are “NAME”, “ADDRESS”, “TELEPHONENUMBER”, “E-MAIL ADDRESS”, “TECHNICAL SECTIONS”, “MAJOR FIELD”, “FIELDOF INTEREST”, and the like for each user. The paper database 146_2stores paper-related data including papers presented or contributed tomeetings, and moving images, keywords, and/or lecture materialscontained in the papers. The paper-related data are classified andstored depending on the conferences related to subjects of the papers.

[0023] The conference database 146_3 contains society-related data forthe conferences having their cyber-conferences, such as “NAME OFCONFERENCE”, “ORGANIZATION DATE”, “ADDRESS”, and the like. Thesociety-related data may be obtained from the government authoritiesapproving the establishment of the individual conference. Thecyber-conference database 146_4 contains conference activity-relateddata for meetings of cyber-conferences currently being held, such aspapers published in or contributed to the meetings, their authors,examiners, and participating status of audiences. After the meetings areclosed, the papers of the conference activity-related data stored in thecyber-conference database 146_4 are transferred to and stored on thepaper database 146_2 upon request of the operators of thecyber-conference. Alternatively, all of the conference activity-relateddata may be stored on a predetermined location of the conference clients120.

[0024] The ID & password database 146_5 stores temporary IDs & passwordsfor the lectures, the examiners, and the audiences, and specific IDs &passwords for the conferences. The temporary and specific IDs &passwords can be given by the operators of the cyber-conferences underthe control of the server 142.

[0025] Now, referring to FIGS. 2 to 6, it will be described in detail amethod capable of constructing and operating the cyber-conference inaccordance with the present invention.

[0026]FIG. 2 represents a flow diagram of a method for constructing andmanaging the cyber-conference in cyberspace through the cyber-conferenceoperating apparatus 140 of FIG. 1 in accordance with the presentinvention.

[0027] At step S202, when a user using one of the user clients 110(hereinafter, the user will be referred as the user client 110 for thesake of simplicity) and an operator using one of the conference clients120 (hereinafter, the operator will be referred as the conference client120 for the sake of simplicity) access to the cyber-conference operatingapparatus 140, the server 142 of the apparatus 140 provides the userclient 110 and the conference client 120, via the Internet 130, with ahomepage of a cyber-conference website. The homepage is realized with alanguage, e.g., HTML (Hyper-Text Markup Language) and/or WML (WirelessMarkup Language), to which the user client 110 and the conference client120 can access, and also is provided with various contents.

[0028] At step S204, the server 142 determines whether a menu providedon the homepage is selected. It should be noted that the homepage willbe described to provide “CONFERENCE” and “USER” items only on the menufor the sake of simplicity, but the skilled person in the art can fullyunderstand that other items may be added on the menu, if necessary. Itis also noted that “CONFERENCE” item is provided for the conferenceclient 120 that is willing to operate a certain cyber-conference in thecyberspace; and “USER” item is provided to the user client 110 that iswilling to participate in the cyber-conference or a meeting of thecyber-conference. In case that the determination result is negative atstep S204, the procedure of the present invention returns to step S202;and, if otherwise, it proceeds to step S206.

[0029] At step S206, the server 142 determines whether “CONFERENCE” itemon the menu is selected. If “CONFERENCE” item is selected, the inventiveprocedure goes to step S208; and, if otherwise, it proceeds to stepS220.

[0030] At step S220, the server 142 transmits to the user client 110 alist of cyber-conferences being currently operated based on theconference activity-related data stored on the cyber-conference database146_4, in order to allow the user client 110 to select a desiredcyber-conference on the list.

[0031] In response, the server 142, at step S222, connects the userclient 110 to the selected cyber-conference and the inventive procedureis terminated.

[0032] Meanwhile, at step S208, the server 142 checks whether theconference client 120 has registered to the cyber-conference operatingapparatus 140, for constructing and operating a certain cyber-conferencein the cyberspace. If the checked result is negative at step S208, theinventive procedure proceeds to step S210; and, if otherwise, it goes tostep S216.

[0033] At step S210, the server 142 receives an application forregistration from the conference client 120 and proceeds to step S212.The application is provided by the cyber-conference operating apparatus140. For example, data to be filled in the application by the conferenceclient 120 is “NAME OF CONFERENCE”, “PRESIDENT”, “CONFERENCEREGISTRATION NO.”, “ADDRESS”, and the like and stored on the conferencedatabase 146_3 under the control of the server 142. Optionally, afterstep S210, the server 142 determines whether the data filled in theapplication exists on the conference database 146_3, by comparing thedata with the conference-related data stored on the conference database146_3. If the data filled in the application exists already, the server142 returns to step S208 and notifies to the conference client 120 thefact that it has been already registered to the cyber-conferenceoperating apparatus 140; and, if otherwise, the server 142 goes to stepS212. This step is provided for preventing double registration fromoperating a certain cyber-conference.

[0034] At step S212, the server 142 determines whether the conferenceclient 120 applying for the registration is officially authorized fromthe government authority where the conference has been established onoff-line, based on the data filled in the application and theconference-related data stored on the conference database 146_3. If thedetermination result is negative at step S212, the inventive procedureis terminated; and, if otherwise, it goes to step S214.

[0035] At step S214, after the server 142 assigns a specific ID andpassword to the conference client 120, the conference client 120constructs a cyber-conference in the form of, e.g., a website by usingthe CCB program provided from the program storage 114 under the controlof the server 142.

[0036] At step S218, the conference client 120 operates the constructedcyber-conference and the inventive procedure is terminated. The detaileddescription of the construction and operation process for theconstructed cyber-conference will be discussed with reference to FIGS.3A and 3B.

[0037] Meanwhile, if the determination result is positive at step S208,the inventive procedure proceeds to step S216, as described above. Atstep S216, the conference client 120 logs in the cyber-conference byusing the specific ID and password previously assigned from the server142, and proceeds to step S218 to perform the operation described above.

[0038] Now, the construction and operation process of thecyber-conference will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3Aand 3B.

[0039] First, at step S302 of FIG. 3A, the conference client 120constructs the cyber-conference by using the CCB program provided fromthe program storage 144 under the control of the server 142, wherein theconference client 120 has obtained the right to construct and operatethe cyber-conference from the server 142. The constructedcyber-conference may provide contents of, e.g., “OPENING AND CLOSINGDATE OF CYBER-CONFERENCE MEETING”, “MEETING LOCATION”, “TECHNICALSECTION”, “CONTRIBUTOR AND TITLE OF PAPER”, “NOTICE”, “BULLETIN BOARD”,“COUNCIL”, and “JOURNAL PUBLICATION STATUS”.

[0040] At step S304, the conference client 120 operating the constructedcyber-conference determines whether it is time to hold a meeting. If thedetermination result is negative at step S304, the inventive procedureproceeds to step S316 of FIG. 3B through a tap A; and, if otherwise, itgoes to step S306.

[0041] At step S306, the conference client 120 gives the right foraccessing the cyber-conference to users, e.g., paper examiners andlecturers, invited to the meeting. Specifically, the conference client120 provides the users with temporary IDs and passwords capable ofattending to the meeting being held or to be held under the control ofthe server 142. Then, the temporary IDs and passwords given to the usersare stored on the ID & password database 146_5 of FIG. 1 and can be setto expire automatically as the meeting is closed.

[0042] At step S308, the conference client 120 receives registrationsfor participating the meeting from paper contributors and/or audiences.Similar to step S306, the conference client 120 gives temporary IDs andpasswords to the contributors and/or the audiences completing theregistration. The detailed description of step S308 will be discussedwith reference to FIG. 5.

[0043] At step S310, the conference client 120 checks whether it is anopening date of the meeting. If the checked result is negative at stepS310, the inventive procedure returns to step S308; and, if otherwise,it proceeds to step S312.

[0044] At step S312, the conference client 120 holds the meeting in thecyberspace; and, after closing the meeting, the inventive procedure goesto step S314.

[0045] At step S314, the conference client 120 notifies the closing ofthe meeting to the server 142, and the inventive procedure isterminated.

[0046] Meanwhile, at step S316 of FIG. 3B, the conference client 120receives papers from the paper contributors completing the registration.The received papers are processed by the conference client 120 using autility program 600 provided from the program storage 144 under thecontrol of the server 142. The utility program 600 will be discussed indetail with reference to FIG. 6. The received papers are temporarilystored as the conference activity-related data on the cyber-conferencedatabase 146_4 shown in FIG. 1 until the closing day of paper reception.

[0047] At step S318, the conference client 120 checks whether it is theclosing day of paper reception. If the checked result is negative atstep S318, the inventive procedure returns to step S316 to keepreceiving papers; and, if otherwise, it proceeds to step S320.

[0048] At step S320, the conference client 120 classifies the receivedpapers into their corresponding categories depending on technicalsections of the cyber-conference.

[0049] At step S322, the conference client 120 elects examiners who willexamine the classified papers based on the user-related data stored onthe user database 146_1 of FIG. 1, wherein the user-related datacontains a major field of the individual examiners. Then, the electedexaminers examine the papers assigned thereto and notify the examinationresults of the papers to the conference client 120. Optionally, theaudiences completing the registration may perform the paper-examination,wherein an evaluation basis related to the paper-examination by theaudiences is previously prepared by the conference client 120.

[0050] At step S324, the conference client 120 receives the examinationresults from the elected examiners and/or the audiences. Then, theconference client 120 determines passed and non-passed papers among theexamined papers based on the received examination results.

[0051] At step S326, the conference client 120 notifies the receivedexamination results and the publication decision to the correspondingpaper contributors.

[0052] At step S328, the conference client 120 publishes a journalincluding the passed papers, and the inventive procedure is terminated.The journal can be published on off-line and/or on-line.

[0053] Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown the constitution of the CCBprogram 400 stored on the program storage unit 144 of FIG. 1 inaccordance with the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, the CCBprogram 400 is made of a cyber-conference creation program 410, anaccess-permitting program 420, a meeting opening/closing program 430, apaper presentation/on-line chatting linking program 440, and adatabase-building program 450.

[0054] The cyber-conference creation program 410 contains not only a webpage building tool for use in the creation of the cyber-conference, butalso has the utility program 600 shown in FIG. 6. The access-permittingprogram 420 is used for effectively managing the cyber-conference andits meeting. Specifically, by using the access-permitting program 420,the operator of the cyber-conference gives the right for supervising andcontrolling the cyber-conference to individual executives, e.g., thechief of each technical section, elected by the operator.

[0055] The meeting opening/closing program 430 is used foropening/closing ceremonies of the meeting held in the cyberspace,including awarding prizes, and provides real-time broadcasting andchatting tools. The paper presentation/on-line chatting linking program440 is a tool for supporting the audiences to take the presentation of aspecific paper or to listen to lectures, while the meeting is holding,and also to exchange opinions with the presenters or the lectures forthe sake of academic development. The database-building program 450 is atool for storing presented papers, materials for lectures, and chattingcontents about the presented papers in the closed meeting on the paperdatabase 146_2 or on a predetermined place of the conference client 120,so that members of the cyber-conference can retrieve them through theInternet 130 after the meeting is closed.

[0056]FIG. 5 depicts a flow diagram for explaining a registrationprocedure in detail shown in FIG. 3A.

[0057] At step S502, the conference client 120 checks whether the userclient 110 intending to participate in the meeting is a member or afirst-time visitor. If the checked result is positive at step S502,i.e., the user client 110 is the first-time visitor and needs toregister, the inventive procedure proceeds to step S504; and, ifotherwise, it goes to step S508.

[0058] At step S504, the conference client 120 receives an applicationfor registration from the user client 110.

[0059] At step S506, the conference client 120 provides the user client110 with a temporary ID and password under the control of the server142.

[0060] At step S508, the user client 110 logs in the cyber-conference byusing the temporary ID and password provided from the conference client120. Here, the temporary ID and password of the user client 110 arestored on the ID & password database 146_5 of FIG. 1.

[0061] At step S510, the conference client 120 determines whether theuser client 110 logging in at step S508 is a paper presenter or anaudience. If the user client 110 is an audience, the inventive proceduregoes to step S310 of FIG. 3A to perform the operation described above;and, if otherwise, it proceeds to step S512.

[0062] At step S512, the conference client 120 receives a presentingpaper from the user client 110 logging in at step S508. The receivedpaper for presentation is made-up with the utility program 600 providedfrom the program storage unit 144.

[0063] Thereafter, at step S514, the conference client 120 decides acategory of the received paper, i.e., a corresponding technical sectionof the cyber-conference; and, the inventive procedure goes to step S310of FIG. 3A to perform the operation described above.

[0064] Referring to FIG. 6, there is presented the constitution of theutility program 600 embodied on a computer-readable medium in accordancewith the present invention. The utility program 600 includes apresentation paper making-up utility 602, a contribution paper making-uputility 603, a moving-image making-up utility 606, and an on-linechatting utility 608.

[0065] The presentation paper making-up utility 602 is used when apresenter prepares for a paper to be presented in the meeting of thecyber-conference. The contribution paper making-up utility 603 is usedwhen a paper contributor prepares for a paper to be contributed in thejournal. The moving-image making-up utility 606 is used to add movingimages and/or materials for lectures in the presentation paper and/orthe contribution paper, and is effective in detailed explanation to theaudiences and the examiners of the papers, in order to promotecomprehensive understanding of the subject matter to study. The on-linechatting utility 608 is used for exchanging opinions with the audiencesand the presenters at a presentation time. Alternatively, the paperpresenter can also use a conventional utility program, e.g., a wordprocessing program, provided on the user client 110.

[0066] While the present invention has been described and illustratedwith respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will beapparent to those skilled in the art that variations and modificationsare possible without deviating from the broad principles and teachingsof the present invention which should be limited solely by the scope ofthe claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for constructing and operating acyber-conference in a system which interconnects a user client, anconference client, a cyber-conference operation server, a programstorage unit, and a database through a communication network, comprisingthe steps of: a) accessing, at the conference client, a cyber-conferenceoperating website provided by the cyber-conference operation server; b)applying for registration, at the conference client, to thecyber-conference operation server; c) approving, at the cyber-conferenceoperation server, the registration based on data stored on the database,in response to the application for registration from the conferenceclient; and d) creating, at the conference client, a cyber-conferencethrough the communication network by using a cyber-conference creationprogram stored on the program storage unit.
 2. The method of claim 1,further comprising the steps of: e) holding, at the conference client, ameeting of the created cyber-conference; and f) processing, at theconference client, data related to the meeting.
 3. The method of claim1, wherein the step c) includes the steps of: c1) assigning, at thecyber-conference operation server, a specific access code to theconference client by using a predetermined algorithm; and c2) loggingin, at the conference client, the cyber-conference operating websitewith the specific access code assigned by the cyber-conference operationserver.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step d) includes the stepsof: d1) creating, at the conference client, for the cyber-conferencebased on a cyber-conference building program; and d2) providing, at theconference client, contents for the cyber-conference.
 5. The method ofclaim 2, wherein the step e) includes the steps of: e1) setting, at theconference client, opening/closing date of the meeting; and e2)providing, at the conference client, technical sections of thecyber-conference.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step e) furtherincludes the steps of: e3) receiving, at the conference client, anapplication of participation to the meeting from the user client; e4)assigning, at the conference client, a temporary access code to the userclient completing the application under the control of thecyber-conference operation server; and e5) receiving, the conferenceclient, data to be presented in the meeting from the user clientcompleting application.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step e5)has the step of: e51) classifying, at the conference client, thereceived data depending on the technical sections to store the same on apredetermined location.
 8. An apparatus for constructing and operating acyber-conference, wherein the apparatus is connected to a user clientand a society client through a communication network, the apparatuscomprising: a means for storing a program, embodied on acomputer-readable medium, to be used in constructing and operating thecyber-conference; a database storing data related to thecyber-conference; and a server connected to the storing means and thedatabase, wherein the server enables the conference client to constructand operate the cyber-conference, by using the data stored on thestoring means and the database, when the conference client requests foroperating the cyber-conference.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theprogram includes: a first code segment for enabling the conferenceclient to construct the cyber-conference; a second code segment forenabling the user client to access the cyber-conference; and a thirdcode segment for enabling the conference client to manage data relatedto the cyber-conference.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein thedatabase includes: a first portion for storing data related to theconference client; a second portion for storing data related to the userclient; and a third portion for storing data related to thecyber-conference.